If you were listening to the radio in the 1970s, you remember the Captain and Tennille. This Grammy-winning couple's hits include Muskrat Love, You Never Done It Like That, Love Will Keep Us Together, Do That To Me One More Time, and many more. They'll be online to talk about their newest release, Captain and Tennille Ultimate Collection: The Complete Hits, and their musical memories.

T: You'd have to ask the guy who wrote it. I think it's just a whimsical kind of a joke of a tune. There's nothing serious about it.

D: I've heard reports that it has sexual overtones. I told her it was dirty when I first heard it.

T: Julia Child was upset when we sang it at the White House when we sang it for the queen.Alamo, CA:
I remember Broderick and Elizabeth, your two Bulldogs.
Do you still have Bulldogs in your family?

The Captain and Tennille:
T: We didn't have bulldogs for quite a while, but we missed them so much that last summer we adopted Teensy, who's a 4-year old bullie with eye problems. We brought her home to guard the house.State College, PA:
When you appeared on "Space Ghost Coast to Coast", did you actually get to meet Space Ghost, or were you in separate studios?

The Captain and Tennille:
D: Everything was digital. We were told to pretend we were talking the ghost. I don't believe there is a space ghost.Toledo, OH:
Mr. Dragon, are you still active duty navy? or have you resigned your captain rank?

The Captain and Tennille:
D: Gettin' wise now.

I'm Kaptain Keyboard now. I figure as long as I'm playing keyboard, I can keep the captain rank.Colorado Springs CO:
As a teenager in the seventies, I always enjoyed your music. My question for you is, Do you think music of today has any real messages or is it just get as many songs out as you can while you are popular?

The Captain and Tennille:
T: Oh, boy. Have you hit a nail on the head. It's quite different, and it's hard to say this w/o sounding old. In our day, we worked in clubs, got a sense of how to work an audience. I think a lot of the performes today, because video is so important, don't work in clubs or do concerts; they do a video and the next thing you know they're onstage. Maybe these peoples' managers tell them what to do....plus there's so much anger and explicit sexuality. It's almost gynaecological to me. To me, it's very sad to see how hard things have gotten instead of kinder, a little more musical.

D: I'm sure back when Elvis came out the whole world went upside-down. The problem today is that the radio industry is kind of locked up. We wouldn't have gotten a record deal if a DJ hadn't walked into the club we were working and told us that if we did a recording, he'd play it on the radio. We pressed up a couple hundred records, and it started selling. DJs had control of their playlists. Today, most stations are taking orders from programming services.:
When will you go on concert tour again ...doing your hreatest hits and new material? My wife and I saw you in concert in Columbia, Md and you were fantastic...a great evening!

The Captain and Tennille:
T: I hate to say this, but we've decided not to tour anymore. We've been touring for 25 years, and I took a year and did Victor/Victoria. When I came back from that in 1999, Daryl and I were going to go on the road, but I was so disheartened by the road that I couldn't face it anymore. I told Daryl that I didn't have the heart for it anymore, and he said that was fine. That's not to say if something special came along that we wouldn't put the group together.

D: You can go to www.captainandtennille.net to learn a lot about us.San Pablo, Ca:
are you again going back into the studio to produce NEW music if this c.d. hits??

The Captain and Tennille:
T: That's a tough one. The truth is, what would we do? The music we do isn't the music of today, which is fine -- every time has its music. The kind of music wouldn't have a place in today's pop. If there were an outlet, we'd do it.

D: We've thought of releasing something in England, since they don't have weird, restrictive playlists.

T: Daryl and I talked about this in the beginning -- we knew that there's be an end. Elton has crossed the decades, but he's a rare bird.

D: Look at Sinatra. He could be played on MOR stations. They couldn't have those today, because they wouldn't have enough material to play on them.San Francisco, CA:
I remember watching your variety show when I was younger. What was that experience like for you? Was it a direction you two had planned to take your careers at that point in time?

The Captain and Tennille:
D: When I worked with the Beach Boys, and then when I worked in clubs, I was a musicians. I didn't make a sound. All of a sudden Toni told our manager that she'd like to do a variety show, and I froze. We got on, and it was difficult for me. The hardest part of all was that I had to look at myself, and 60 million others were watching me at the same time. It was very stressful.

T: I was totally comfortable. My mother had one of the first talk shows ever on television in Alabama, and I did lots of theater. For me, the actual doing of it was easy. But there were two difficult things: watching Daryl struggle and worry, and the overwhelming voraciousness of the needs of television (getting arrangements, learning dance numbers, learning new songs). Those two things made it difficult for us. After the first year, we went to see Fred Silverman at ABC to ask to be let out of the contract, but we had great ratings and they didn't want to let us go. Fred gave us a list of producers, and on the list was Dick Clark. We were happy with the show after he took over, but we had a lot of pressure from the record company to stop. It seemed like all the musicians who had variety show stoppped having hits.

The reason people remember us is because of television! We owe a lot to the television exposure. I would never have changed what we did.Princeton, New Jersey:
Daryl, did you ever go back again and team with The Beach Boys?
Any new songs on complete hits CD?

The Captain and Tennille:
D: They asked me to sub one time because their keyboard player's wife was pregnant, so I played with them for about a week. It was difficult b/c the keyboards were set up for this other player. I also played with Al Jardine while Toni was on the road with Victor/Victoria.Chambersburg,PA:
Toni I always thought you were so beautiful....did you have a lot of groupies follow you around in your hay day?

The Captain and Tennille:
T: I don't know. I don't think so. I've always thought of myself as a big tall gangly person.

D: When Toni was on the road with Victor/Victoria they'd show up.Chambersburg,PA:
was drugs ever a problem in your band like so many from the 70's?

The Captain and Tennille:
T: Daryl and I never did drugs at all, and we never saw drugs at any of the parties we were invited to, because they were hidden from us!

D: I'd figure 80% of the people from that era were on drugs.

T: I remember we went to a big party after I cohosted the American Music Awards at (I think) Diana Ross' house. Everybody kept going upstairs but didn't invite us, because that's where the coke was. When I go onstage, I want to be totally in command of myself and my faculties. I never had stage fright, so I never needed drugs.Littleton, Colorado:
When you look back on that "Muskrat Love" bru-ha-ha for the Queen of England, what are your thoughts now? Still angry? Does it seem altogether silly as it was then?

The Captain and Tennille:
T: I've never been angry! I've laughed through the whole thing. I specifically remember singing it in the East Room of the White House, and we were told to turn the music volume down. In front of us were the Kissingers, and the look on his face! Queen Elizabeth was sleeping, Prince Philip was tapping his foot, and the Fords were lovely. I see them in Palm Springs, and all they remember is I sang a song about mice. It's the only time we ever got into Rolling Stone! The whole thing is ridiculous. Why would you hate the song?LA, CA:
Was Brian Wilson as much of a musical genius as I have read?

The Captain and Tennille:
D: That's like asking if Mozart was.Comment from The Captain and Tennille:
D: When I went to school I took harmony class, where you learn the rules established over the centuries. Brian broke the laws and created his own. When you talk about the Beatles, the rules are adhered to. Brian is more like Wagner. I don't think anyone realizes the power and uniqueness of Brian Wilson on that level.Comment from The Captain and Tennille:
D: Brian was able to take the simplicity of rock and roll and make it sophisticated. I never saw anyone do that before.Chambersburg<PA:
What is your views on Napster, adn music exchange on the innernet....after all, after watching this discussion,I will probably download a couple of Captain and Tenille songs

The Captain and Tennille:
T: Hahahaha!

D: We'll have to explain how we got our house. We got some royalties from our records and the publishing royalties. When you have Napster, and Internet radio, then you lose your publishing and your writing. Then you could see us at your local club, because we'd have to play in little places to pay the rent. We were lucky not to have Napster back then.

T: I can understand how the fans feel, especially if the music is hard to find, but we make our living through royalties. It's hard to think that if Napster became the norm I wouldn't be able to make a living unless I went on the road.

D: Many people think that's selfish, but there wouldn't be any time for artists to write music if they're playing all the time. The bands can't get the budgets they normally get, because the hip-hop guys can do their music on computers, so the budgets are down. The studios are getting booked less and less, because the companies can make more money with bands that don't cost as much in production.

T: With Napster, creativity would diminish, because of time limits and the inability to create new material. They'd be too busy on the road. I have to have time to reflect when I write.Comment from USATODAY.com Host:
Thanks so much to Daryl and Toni for being so generous with their time, and to everyone who joined in.